A New Leader for Connecticut Catholics

Catholics across much of Connecticut have a new leader. Archbishop Leonard Blair was installed Monday afternoon during a mass at St. Joseph Cathedral Hartford.

Blair says he first heard the news of his appointment by the pope while on a visit to Rome.

“The very next day, I was at a papal audience,” Blair said Monday. “When I was presented to Pope Francis, I was able to thank him in peson for the confidence he has placed in me. And I asked for his blessing on the church in both Hartford and Toledo.”

The 64-year-old Blair comes to Hartford from the Toledo Diocese.

While there, Blair faced criticism from the group SNAP – Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests – for his handling of abuse allegations. Blair has dismissed the criticism and said he takes all allegations with the “utmost seriousness.”

Blair succeeds Archbishop Henry Mansell, who led the Hartford Archdiocese for ten years and has reached the church’s age of retirement. He will live in a former rectory in South Glastonbury.

The Hartford Archdiocese includes Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties.